I recently had a great discussion with Dan and Caleb from TheFightwork’s Podcast about the role of leglocks in Brazilian jiu- jitsu. We discussed a lot of things leglock, including how to train them safely, how to use them to help augment your guard passing game, and how their role has changed and evolved within the sport. Check the interview out on the site or download it to your iPod.

The easy answer to how one should train dangerous submissions is “slowly, gently, and with control”. Everybody knows this already, though, and people still get hurt, so obviously more explanation is required.

Below are some solutions used by different schools to solve the problem. None of them are perfect, but they should provide some food for thought.

-Use With Caution-

Many schools simply tell you to “be careful” when you are using dangerous submissions. What this means exactly is rarely clear in advance, but the implication is that you should moderate how hard and fast you apply your submission, which is certainly better than the applying them full force.

For this approach to work students need to be well informed about which submissions are dangerous. It’s not always obvious how damaging certain submissions can be.

Ego is the enemy in this training method: ego makes you apply dangerous submissions a little too fast, or makes you tap out a little too slow when you’re caught in them yourself. If there is someone in your club who just can’t handle losing or tapping out then this is NOT the method of choice.

Finally, keep in mind that the level of force you might consider to be safe could be quite different from what the class spaz thinks is safe, so pick your sparring partners carefully if you are playing under these rules.

-The Complete Ban-

Another valid approach is to just to ban dangerous submissions – many clubs, for example, forbid heel hooks and neck cranks outright. This approach requires the instructor to make the ground rules clear to all new students and visitors so that there are no misunderstandings.

The problem with this approach is that you really only learn to be aware of, and defend, submissions when you are attacked with them in sparring. If you’re never attacked with wristlocks, for example, then your ability to defend wristlocks will be weak. This is a particular problem if you’re a competitor: if you want to compete successfully then the competition rules must be reflected in your sparring.

-The Rank-Dependent Ban-

Some schools ban certain submissions for students below a given rank or belt level. For example, you might have to be at least a purple belts to attack with, or be attacked by, neck cranks.

This approach assumes that higher ranks have greater control, awareness and discipline, which, for the most part, is true. The other assumption is that the higher belts are better able to recognize when they are caught in a dangerous submission and tap out earlier. A beginner doesn’t differentiate between tapping to a triangle choke and a toehold, but the consequences of refusing to tap are very different: one results in unconsciousness, the other in torn ligaments, muscles and broken bones.

-Catch and Release-

Another approach is to use the ‘catch and release’ method when attacking with dangerous submissions. Here you apply the technique but don’t finalize it – no pressure is actually applied against the joint. As soon as you have the submission positioned you let go and continue with your sparring.

The problem with this approach is that it could result in an argument that goes like this:

“I got you”
“No you didn’t, I would have escaped”
“Yes I did get you – I was blocking your counter”
“Whatever, but my dad is still stronger than your dad”

I guess we’re lucky that everyone we train with is a LOT more emotionally mature than this…

-10 Second Rule-

A variation of the catch and release method used by some schools is to have a ’10 second rule’, which means that holding a submission position for 10 seconds (but not actually applying it) is considered to be a successful attack. You might end up putting your opponent into a heel hook but not applying any pressure against the joint. For the next 10 seconds your opponent tries to get out while you use your arms and legs to prevent and block his escape attempts.

This method does require some emotional maturity, because initially you are going to ‘tap’ less people when you train like this – 10 seconds is a long time for people to work their way out of a submission. You also have to be on the lookout for somebody inadvertently cranking the the submission on tighter while they are wildly twisting around, trying to escape.

This method can actually IMPROVE your submissions, because you will learn how to control an opponent and counter his escape attempts, rather than relying on speed to obtain a quick tapout. This way of applying a submission is basically what Jean-Jacques Machado did to me the one time we ever sparred.

-The Bottom Line-

Regardless of the rules and restrictions placed around certain submissions, it all comes down to preserving your training partners. The ethic of applying submissions carefully comes from the top down. If the instructor and senior students at a school take the time to explain the dangers of certain submissions to everyone then they’ve just help make the training environment a whole lot safer.

It is critical that everybody is on the same page. I’d rather be sparring under anything-goes rules than be in a scenario where my opponent and I have differing assumptions about which submissions are legal. I remember one sparring session where I spun to attack my opponent’s feet, secured a toehold and then stopped (basically I was using a 10 second rule). Instead of trying a technical escape my opponent applied his own vicious toehold with all his strength. I screamed in pain, yelling out “Why the hell did you do that?”, “I had to”, he replied, “it was the only way I could get out”. Our differing assumptions resulted in my injury.

In closing, remember that, no fool-proof system of dealing with dangerous submissions is proof against a sufficiently talented fool. Even if your school bans a certain lock DON’T get complacent about it, or leave yourself vulnerable to it, or refuse to tap to it. Maybe it will be a newbie who just doesn’t know, maybe it will be a visitor who just doesn’t care, or maybe it will be your friend who just applied it by accident, but dangerous submissions DO get used at every school. Protect yourself at all times, and remember that protecting yourself includes tapping out early and often, whether the submission is ‘legal’ in your school or not.

Not all submissions are created equal: some cause pain, some put you to sleep, and some do a lot of damage. Today I want to talk about the latter category, those submissions most likely to send you to the orthopedic surgeon. Knowing which locks are dangerous is important for at least two reasons: first, you need to know which submissions to tap out early to if you are caught in one yourself, and second, it helps you preserve your training partners.

Many dangerous submissions have a narrow margin between the onset of pain and the onset of damage. When you get caught in a straight armbar (which is a relatively safe submission) you initially feel pain, then more pain, then a whole lot of pain and then something goes ‘pop’ in your arm; in other words you have lots of warning to tap out before major damage occurs. For a Kimura, on the other hand, the situation is a bit different: pain and damage come much closer together, and the margin for error is smaller. An even more extreme example is the heel hook, where you sometimes get damage BEFORE the onset of pain, especially if the recipient is all hyped up on adrenaline. It goes something like this: the lock is applied, something goes ‘pop’, and then the pain starts.

So which submissions are dangerous exactly?

As I mentioned above, the Kimura isn’t the safest armlock in the world, but other arm manipulations have an even higher injury rate. The two worst offenders are bicep slicers (aka bicep compression locks) and wristlocks.

Among the leglocks, anytime there is rotation or twisting to apply the lock it becomes a lot more dangerous. Twisting leglocks include heel hooks, reverse heel hooks, toeholds and steering wheel footlocks: all are very effective and efficient submissions, but they have destroyed the ligaments in many grappler’s feet, ankles and knees.

When it comes to attacking the neck, most chokes and strangles are relatively safe given that you release the technique the moment the person taps out or loses consciousness. There is a slight tendancy for chokes, which attack the windpipe rather than the side of the neck, to cause bruising in the throat if applied vigorously. Neck cranks, however, are in an entirely different category. If you are not very careful and/or if they don’t tap out, a neck crank can very easily damage the ligaments, muscles, nerves and/or joints of the neck. This can end someone’s jiu-jitsu career, not to mention making pain-free life a distant memory.

The above is NOT an exhaustive list of all dangerous submissions, but it’s a good start. I just wanted to highlight the submissions that, in my experience, have the highest percent-injury rates. Also (and this should be obvious) you can severely damage an opponent with just about any lock if you apply it irresponsibly, so don’t go crazy with your armbars and ankle locks just because I consider them safer than neck cranks!

Next time I’ll address how to train these dangerous submissions in a realistic way without crippling everybody in your club.

Grapplers are a tough bunch, and generally tend to ignore injuries unless broken bones are actually protruding from a wound. I want to temper this tendency by using the Grapplearts pulpit to discuss a very serious category of orthopedic injury: strains and sprains of the lowly foot.

About 5 years ago in Judo I tried to take down a large opponent and got caught in an awkward position. There was an audible ‘pop’ and I collapsed in pain, holding my foot; it felt like someone had driven a spike right through it. Regular X-Rays at the local ER didn’t show anything, and over several days the pain gradually decreased, all of which seemed like good news.

An extensive google search got me worried though: it seemed that there were certain types of foot injuries that were often misdiagnosed and went through a brief period of ‘improvement’ before getting much, much worse. There were references to fusing bones and foot amputation. Therefore, despite the assurances of the ER doctors, I pulled some strings to see my sports medicine doctor, and things started to happen.

Within the hour I had new X-Rays, weight-bearing X-Rays this time. Later that day I was in the office of a foot surgeon. One week later I was in the operating theatre and under the knife. 9 weeks later I returned to work and (light) training.

It turned out that I had suffered something called a Lisfranc injury, where certain important ligaments are torn. The foot looks and feels OK at first, but every time that foot bears weight it pancakes out to the side, there being no ligaments to hold it together. Things that shouldn’t rub or move end up rubbing and moving, and before long a crippling form of arthritis sets in. Caught early – one to two weeks after injury – the prognosis is good. Untreated this injury rarely ever heals well.

So the take-home message is that if your foot ever goes ‘pop’ you have no choice: go see a specialist. All foot injuries are serious until proven otherwise, and most serious foot injuries are also time sensitive: early diagnosis and treatment might just save your grappling career. Hell, it might save your walking career!